Last updated: October 2026
Looking for a free printable murder mystery game you can play tonight? The Ashford Christmas Boxes is a short detective case file from Clues at Home: print it, read the evidence and name the culprit in 30 to 45 minutes. It is set on Christmas Eve 1926, a year before our best-selling case, and it costs nothing.
Quick answer
The Ashford Christmas Boxes is a free 30–45 minute print-at-home detective case for 1–6 players. Join the Clues at Home newsletter, confirm your email address and the PDF arrives in your welcome email. Strictly speaking it is a theft rather than a murder: nobody dies, so it suits all ages.
Get the free case
What is The Ashford Christmas Boxes?
It is Christmas Eve, 1926, at Ashford Manor, a Georgian house alone on the snowy Yorkshire moors. Lady Ashford has filled eleven envelopes with her servants’ Christmas money and left them in a locked library. By ten past five, every one of them has gone.
Her Ladyship wants the new footman out of the house that night. The butler asks her to let the police decide. You have until dinner is served at half past seven to work out who really took the money, using the Sergeant’s report, the butler’s day book and four witness statements.
The case is a prequel to The Snowbound Manor Mystery, so you meet the house, the butler and the Sergeant a year before the Ashford Star disappears. Neither case spoils the other.
What is in the free case file?
- A 29-page PDF in US Letter that prints on A4 too, with no cutting or folding
- Two investigation phases and seven evidence documents, including a police report, the butler’s day book and four witness statements
- Three suspect profiles with painted portraits
- A plan of the house and grounds
- Six scored questions and a Final Accusation, out of 40 points
- Six hints, the full solution and the story behind it
How do you play a printable murder mystery game?
- Print every page, in order, on ordinary paper.
- Read the briefing and the Phase 1 evidence, then answer the Phase 1 questions.
- Turn the STOP page only when you have answered, and read the suspects’ statements in Phase 2.
- Make your Final Accusation: who did it, how and why.
- Check the solution, add up your score and see your Detective Rating.
Stuck? The hints at the back cost a couple of points each. For more on the format, see our guide to print-at-home mystery games.
Who is it for?
The case is rated Easy and suits all ages, from one to six players. It works as a first detective game, a short family activity before tea (see our family games guide), a warm-up for a date night in, or a quiet half hour on your own.
Where does the story go next?
A year later, on Christmas Eve 1927, Lady Ashford gathers eight guests for dinner and makes an announcement about the Ashford Star, the family’s 40-carat diamond necklace. An hour later, the necklace is gone.
The story continues
The Snowbound Manor Mystery
Christmas Eve, 1927. The Ashford Star vanishes, a blizzard closes the roads and every guest is a suspect. 1–6 players, 1–2 hours.
See the case — $12.99Want more Ashford before Christmas? The Ashford Advent is our 24-day printable mystery advent calendar, set at the manor in December 1925, the year before this case. An unsigned letter arrives every morning from 1 December, and you name the writer by Christmas Eve. It takes 10–15 minutes a day and costs $29.99.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. Join the Clues at Home newsletter, confirm your email address, and the download link arrives in your welcome email. There is no payment and no account to create.
No. Once you have downloaded the PDF it is yours to keep, even if you unsubscribe from the newsletter straight away.
Yes. It is a theft rather than a murder, with no violence, so it suits all ages. Younger children may like a grown-up’s help with the timeline.
Most players finish in 30 to 45 minutes. It works solo or with up to six people.
No. The illustrations look nicer in colour, but nothing in the case depends on colour. Ordinary US Letter or A4 paper is fine, with no cutting or folding.
No. The Ashford Christmas Boxes is a prequel set a year earlier, and neither case spoils the other, so you can play them in either order.
